After Kedzie win, Tate plans time off to rediscover 'passion and fire' for MMA

She fought on TV on Saturday, engaging in a back-and-forth slugfest before finally pulling off a fantastic submission in the third round in a fight that had fans going bonkers in person and online. And Zuffa President Dana White stopped by backstage to get his picture taken with her, he loved the fight so much.

But despite celebrating with a post-fight birthday cupcake – appropriate given her new “Cupcake” nickname – Tate sat on stage at the “Strikeforce Rousey vs. Kaufman” post-fight news conference and was far from thrilled.

On Monday, Tate (13-3 MMA, 6-2 SF) told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) her win over Julie Kedzie (16-11 MMA, 0-2 SF) was all well and good, but there was plenty that was out of sorts for her both leading up to the bout and in the fight itself.

“I think I need to take some time off,” Tate said Monday. “I’m not going to try to jump right back in there because I didn’t like the way I felt in that fight and I didn’t like the way that I felt leading up to that fight. It’s so hard to explain.”

If it’s hard for Tate to explain, it’s probably equally difficult for many fans to understand. Though Strikeforce doesn’t hand out public post-fight bonus awards the way the UFC does, the Tate-Kedzie fight was the one everyone was buzzing about as “Fight of the Night.” The fact that she finished Kedzie with an armbar only a couple hours before headliner and bitter rival Ronda Rousey defended the women’s bantamweight title with yet another armbar was fantastic irony, given that’s how Rousey finished Tate in their March title fight.

Tate said she’s not considering retirement, though.

“I don’t plan on walking away from the sport,” Tate said. “From the bottom of my heart, I know I still love it. I love MMA. I love everything about it. I have to have that passion and fire, because I don’t need to be getting in the cage feeling the way that I felt Saturday night, not being wholeheartedly in there. I didn’t like the way that I felt. Julie brought it – she really pulled the most out of me. She really pushed me. I just wasn’t happy with my performance.”

And still, two days later, Tate couldn’t exactly pinpoint just what was off kilter for her.

“I’m not sure what it was, exactly. I’ve never felt this way before a fight – so emotionless,” Tate said. “I have a lot of goals and things I still want to accomplish in MMA, and I absolutely still want to get my title back. But the motivation to win this fight, once I got in there, it wasn’t as passionate. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing this for so long and I’ve put in so much work. It stung a little to be put on the undercard – being a former world champion, and I think it was kind of disheartening for me, a little bit. … I feel like I was getting very little reward for the work I was putting in.”

Tate’s fight closed out the prelims on Showtime Extreme ahead of the main card on Showtime, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he looked at the placement of the Tate-Kedzie fight as the main event on the prelims broadcast. But clearly Tate didn’t feel the same way.

Tate said she still believes she could give Rousey (6-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) a fight. Rousey submitted Tate in March to win the title – but Tate fought through one armbar from her before succumbing to the second one. And she took Rousey deeper than anyone else has.

“Ronda’s always in the back of my mind and she’ll always be there,” Tate said. “I want my second crack at her. Up to this point, I’m the only one who’s given her a challenge. I’m the only one who’s pushed her. I almost took her out of the first round, and I actually had her in bad positions. I think I can be the person to beat her.”

But if that’s the case, Tate said she needs to dig down and renew her passion and energy for the sport before it can be possible.

On Saturday in San Diego, Tate told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that she didn’t think her win over Kedzie was the kind of victory that is worthy of getting another shot at Rousey just yet, even if a potential fight between Rousey and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (10-1 MMA, 4-0 SF) never materializes. Rousey beat Sarah Kaufman (15-2 MMA, 6-2 SF) with relative ease in the main event, needing just 54 seconds for her latest armbar victory.

Tate said she’ll head to Brazil in October to work on her ground game, and she’ll continue training in Yakima, Wash. And she’ll start her search for whatever she says was missing in her Saturday victory.

“I didn’t have that sense of urgency that I normally have,” Tate said. “I think I really need to reassess a little bit, and I’m not sure what my next step is. I know it was a great fight and the fans were entertained and they loved it. But as a fighter, you’re always your own worst critic, and I absolutely was not happy with what I did out there and the I felt emotionally in the fight.

“It’s not always best to take a step forward. Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and reassess everything, regroup and I really need to get that fire and passion back that I had when I fought Ronda and the fights before that.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?